


the wisps sing

by itisjosh



Series: change won't come if we don't begin [2]
Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Destruction, Escape, Future Character Death, Future Fic, Gen, Guilt, Internal Conflict, Magic, Music, People Watching, Stalking, Time Travel, Universe Alteration, i wouldn't consider it "stalking", illumina-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-12
Updated: 2020-11-12
Packaged: 2021-03-09 18:28:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27520771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itisjosh/pseuds/itisjosh
Summary: The world said that he was supposed to die, and Illumina decided that he wasn't going to let that happen.The world told him that he had to kill three kids to keep his universe balanced.Fuck the world.
Relationships: Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit
Series: change won't come if we don't begin [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1939360
Comments: 37
Kudos: 214





	the wisps sing

_This is not a place for you to die, Illumina. Not after everything. Your world doesn't want you dead. Tap into its power, Illumina._

_Breathe._

_Open your eyes, Illumina. You're safe. You can breathe. Look around you, the Academy is gone, but you are not. You are corporeal, Illumina. Don't worry, not everyone died here today. Yes, yes, I know. Look away from Tapl and Spifey. They have long since passed. Phil escaped. You taught him well, Illumina. I am proud of that, you did a very good job._

_What?_

_Of course. I do not have a name other than what you give me. I am the part of your soul tied to this world. I suppose, in a way, I am you, Illumina. Of course, not directly. I was cut off long ago from the being of "you", and now I am "me". Magic is complicated, and the creation of worlds moreso. Do not worry, Phil will be alright. I know that you have been holding back on your powers, Illumina. I wonder if you still can use them._

_Look into the future._

_You see him, right? You see Phil. Good._

_He is going to become the strongest man alive, and nothing will be able to stop him. Not even the old Gods of this universe. No, he will not pose a threat. Not directly. You see, Illumina, he has a singular intent in his mind._

_To keep his children safe._

_I understand that he was only a boy when you met him, but he is not the same child you knew all those years ago. Billions of years have passed now. The creatures that attacked you were not demons, rather angels. Angels are the reason for your demise. Well, of course, you are not dead. I've saved you. You're detrimental to the universe, Illumina. Phil may not be directly harming the universe for all he knows, but he is._

_He interferes too much. You will not be able to kill him. No, Illumina, do not look at me like that. I understand he was your prodigy. I know that you saw yourself in him. But Phil is a god among men now, and he is dangerous. It's already been three million years since I rescued you. Time passes very quickly, and we are running out even faster._

_I am going to be sending you somewhere. You will find a boy, his name is Fruitberries. I want you to kill him._

_Illumina, you must understand. Billions of lives for the price of three? It's not a hard choice. Go. I'll see you when it is done._

* * *

Illumina stares at the boy in front of him. Fruitberries can't see him, he's still corporeal. He's still invisible. He can't do it. He can't kill a _child_. The universe was going to die anyways, he's already known this. He knew this since he tapped into the Harbour, the thing that kept magic flowing into his body. The thing he could never fully see, but he knew was there. He could almost reach out and touch it, but never _quite_. He had been so close to grabbing it once, to grabbing it and gaining all of its power. Of course, that was when he was younger.

He's much older now. 

Much, much older. 

He knows how to respect the Harbour, he knows how to keep it in balance with him. The Harbour, ultimately, dictates everything he does. It's the source of his power, it keeps him alive. Illumina knows that. He might have been saved by the physical form of his world, but that doesn't mean anything. If the Harbour wanted him to die that day, he would have. The Harbour, however, did not. 

Thankfully. 

He can feel his world's spirit wrap around his shoulders, squeezing. An ever so gentle reminder that it exists, that it wants him to slaughter this boy. Illumina stares at him, stares at his bright eyes. He looks happy. He looks content, like he's never had to worry about anything in his entire life. He still has so much life ahead of him, and Illumina..

He would be no better than Phil if he was to directly intervene. That's what he was told, right? That Phil interfered too much. That he bent the world to his will, that he'll be the cause of the universe's destruction. 

Then it isn't Illumina's problem. 

He reaches out to touch the Harbour, feeling an electric shock spiral through his body. He sees a kid with Fruitberries, a kid with scars criss-crossing his nose. He has pink hair and he's smiling, and he..his name is Technoblade. Illumina doesn't know why he knows that.

"No," he murmurs, pushing back against his world's spirit. "I'm not going to kill him." 

_You're making a mistake_.

"I'm not," Illumina rolls his eyes, reaching out to touch the Harbour again, to pull himself back into that almost-physical plane known as the Darkness. "You are."

* * *

_I'm disappointed._

_Oh, don't look at me with that face. You should have killed him. Because you didn't, the world is going to start to spiral. Fruitberries needed to die. He needed to die, and you needed to kill him. No one would have ever known._

_What, you think you're better than him? That you not interfering is better than him doing so? Illumina, I'm disappointed. I thought you understood how the world works. Is it a direct interaction if I told you to do it? If I told you the consequences of your actions? Of Phil's? Since when have you ever tried to play by the rules, Illumina? When did you care about them?_

_I know everything about you, Illumina. I know that you created the Mage Academy from your house. What? Oh, of course. The "Magical" Academy. Say it for what it is, Illumina. It was built for mages and no other magic user. Just because they can touch the Harbour doesn't mean that they should be able to. Mages were the only ones who could safely do it, and since you let witches, magicians, sorcerers, wizards, and necromancers touch the Harbour.._

_Maybe it was always your fault. I can see the future and the past, endlessly. I see all the possibilities of your actions._

_You will end up dead if you do not start to follow through._

_No, I cannot make you cooperate. I cannot interfere with the human world, with the physical one. You were already halfway to the Darkness when I grabbed you back._

_Perhaps that was a mistake._

_I am going to show you a boy. His name is Schlatt._

_You know what I expect of you, Illumina._

* * *

Schlatt is a little boy, barely seven years old, with tiny horns and fuzzy ram ears. 

Illumina watches as he hauls a boy named Will into his arms, dragging him away from the fire that spread into their village from a wildfire. Illumina watches as Will sobs, as he cries as the fire burns the backs of his feet and legs. Schlatt is crying, too. But he's still holding strong, he's carrying Will out of this hellscape, even if it's hurting him. 

_If Schlatt were to fall, neither of them would get back_ up.

"Fuck off," Illumina scoffs, reaching out to touch the Harbour to heal them both. He stops himself, hands shaking. He can't. He isn't going to interfere. If they die, they.. _fuck_. They're just kids. "I'm going back."

_Illumina._

"Don't," he whispers, turning his back to the two. He hopes that they make it. "Don't fucking start."

* * *

_Again?_

_Illumina. Ten million years. Phil has figured out a way to create his own worlds. You were the only one who could do that. You were the only one who could create worlds._

_You made this world, remember? You did it in a fit of rage, of confusion._

_You made this._

_Are you so inclined to watch it burn to the ground?_

_Phil is going to be a problem that you need to take care of. Illumina. Illumina, do not-_

_Illumina!_

_Listen to me. You are well aware of your actions and what they are doing to the universe. Why? Why are you so intent on..._

_Schlatt is going to try to kill Will._

_Will is going to start a war against him._

_They will destroy each other._

_You should have just made him fall, Illumina._

_It would have saved them so much suffering._

_Now._

_There is a boy named Tommy. He is allowed to live. However, his friend, Tubbo, is not._

_Get to it. Do not disappoint me._

* * *

They're both five years old when Illumina meets them.

Tubbo is curled up against Tommy's side. Tommy is still awake, his hand clutching a piece of stale bread. He stares out through the abandoned house's window, his eyes narrowed. He looks exhausted. 

_Tubbo should not wake up._

_The lack of nutrients would be enough to explain it._

_Illumina._

Illumina raises a hand, gently goading the Harbour to show him three months into the future. He watches as Tubbo cups a bee in the palms of his hands, grinning up at Tommy. They're in a village now, with brighter clothes, more colour to their faces. They're healthy. They're okay. 

They're best friends. 

"I'm not separating them," Illumina shakes his head. They're both so _skinny_. "Tommy wouldn't live without him."

 _He would_.

"No," Illumina breathes out, "he fucking wouldn't." He turns away from his world's spirit, even if it isn't physically there. He reaches out, tugging on the Harbour to take him back to the Darkness once again.

* * *

_They all reached him._

_At least Tubbo is going to die._

_What, you didn't know that? Look at Phil, Illumina. He is a mage, he isn't a witch. He- what are you doing? Illumina? Have you finally come to your senses? Tubbo is in a coma, and it is going to stay that way for another month until he dies. Phil has never been good at healing magic._

_What? Illumia, what the hell are_ _you-_

"Oh, shut up," Illumina scoffs, reaching down to touch Tubbo's forehead. He tugs on the Harbour with his other hand, gently sending some of its power into the boy's body. "He'll wake up."

_You.._

"Fuck you," Illumina breathes out, resting his hand on Tubbo's chest. He pulls on the Harbour even more, wincing when it hisses at him, latching its claws into his throat for a second. He sighs, releasing his grip on the Harbour. "He'll wake up in three years. He'll be fine." 

_I should have let you_ die.

"You're right," Illumina smiles, moving to walk down the stairs of Phil's home. He stares at Phil, stares at the man who is billions of years old. He's powerful. Illumina can feel the Harbour bouncing off of him, he can feel the power seeping from him. Phil is so controlled, so contained. He mastered his power so well. Illumina is proud of him. "It's a shame you interfered too much," he turns to face his world's spirit, grinning at it. "Maybe if you hadn't, none of this would have happened."

_Do not-_

"I'm done with you," he raises a hand, gripping down on the Harbour. "I've put up with your shit for far too long. Go on. I never needed you." He pulls on the Harbour again, and he can hear the screaming in his ears. The screaming of thousands dying agonising deaths. The screamings cuts out after a second, and then he's met with silence. Illumina pauses, frowning when that silence starts to reverb into something else. Music. 

He glances towards Will, Wilbur, watching as he taps his foot along to the rhythm. The Harbour buzzes happily, singing its song even louder. 

Wilbur can hear the Harbour's music. But Wilbur isn't..he isn't magic. 

Illumina breathes out, gently reaching out to lay a hand on Wilbur's shoulder. He flinches at the noise he hears, thousands of symphonies and songs compiling into one, nearly causing him to cry out at the raw _power._ That's the Harbour. There's no power radiating off of Wilbur, not physically. He's just a normal kid, he doesn't have any magical abilities. But the Harbour is..

Why does he feel like the Harbour? 

He jerks his hand back when Wilbur stands, moving to go upstairs. Illumina feels his heart pounding in his chest, and he doesn't know how or why. Wilbur is a human, he's got no trace of magic in his blood.

"Why?" He asks, watching as he walks up the stairs. "What is he? Why does he feel like you?" 

The Harbour hums, its song getting a little louder, a little more intense. 

"That isn't an answer," Illumina scoffs. "You're not physical. You never have been. Why is a part of you with him? How the hell did that even happen?"

 _Guess_ , the Harbour whispers, its voice lulling and alluring. _Why would it be him, Illumi?_

"I don't know."

_You do._

"No," Illumina shakes his head. "I don't."

 _I wanted them to live_ , the Harbour sings. _He was never going to live without me._

Illumina closes his eyes. "What about Techno and Tubbo?"

 _Never_ _them_ , the Harbour murmurs. _No, they never needed me. Wilbur is not entirely human, Illumi. I would not expect you to be able to tell. He fits in well, does he not?_

"What is he?"

 _Me_ , the Harbour's lullaby pitches for a second. _A physical form. A vessel. Do not worry, Illumi. I would never hurt him. He is going to be alright. He is a..were you ever told the tales of the Gods, Illumi?_

_Once there was a God named Skrhe._

_He created the sky, he was known as the Sky God._

_He died the day he made his half of the world, but he never fully disappeared._

_I am the Gods, Illumi._

_Skrhe has always been restless, never endingly trying to break free of my grip. So I allowed him to move._

_Skrhe always used to hear my music, too._


End file.
